Refrigerating coil mounting in cabinet



.R. L. EICHHORN 2,654,231

REFRIGERATING con. MOUNTING 1N CABINET lF'il'ed July` l5, 1950 2 SheetS-Sheet 1 011i 6, 1953 R. l..4 EICHHORN 2,654,231v

REFRIGERATING con. MOUNTING 1N @BINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1950 Patented Oct. 6, T953 2,654,231 con. MotM CABINET Robert La Eichhorn; vansvill'e,A Ind., assigner to international Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey applicaties .my 115'-, 195o, serial No. 174,030

This invention relates to refrigerating appenai tus and more particularly to! means for secure ing a condenser coil to the outer shell of a re frigerating cabinet;

In refrigerating cabinets formed with an. inner liner spaced within an outer shell,= it is becoming increasingly common to wrap the evapfcrater` coils around the outside of the inner liner and to place the condenser coil against the ina ner wall surfaces of the outer shell. The refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator coil which cools the walls of the inner line-r so as to maintain the food storage compartment at a predetermined temperature. The hot refrigerant gases are condensed in the condenser coil and the heat from these gases will be conducted to the walls of the outer shell and then dissipated to air surrounding the cabinet. This will cause the temperature of the walls of the outer shell to be slightly warmer than the air so that there will be no moisture condensed on the exterior of the cabi-net;

Since it is necessary to have both the evaporator coil and the condenser coil in good thermal Contact .with the inner liner and outer shell respective'y. l "ar- 5'1" preside# for holding the coils against the liner and s ell. The method most Acommonly used is to position coil clamps over the coilV and; then spot weld them to the adjacent wall: However.l it is un'- desirable to weld clamps on the exposed walls of the outer shell since'the points of contact of the pressure welds would cause indentations on the outer surface of the walls and thus mar the smooth'suri'ace of the wall;

lAn object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerator cabinet with an evaporator coil positioned adjacent the outer surface of the inner liner and a condenser coil positioned adjacent the innerwall, surfaces of the outer shell.

Another Objectis to provide novel meansu for attaching a coil to the outer shell'of a refrigerator cabinet wherebyl no spot welding will be required onthe walls which are exposed to view;

Still another object is tolprovide arefrigerator cabinet in which a retainer member eooperates with e. clamp member for, securing a condenser coil against an inner wallsuriace of the outer shell of the refrigerator cabinet;

n furtherobject is to provide a refrigerator cabinet in which a clamp member secures a pora tion of a coil to a wall member said clamp mem*- ber being deected so that it will force the co'il tightly against the wall member.

Still further objects and advantages of the in- (Cl. Bilal-16) 2 'vention will b apparent from the following description of the illustrative embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings; in whchf Fig. l.- is a perspective view of a refrigerator if cabinet.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the outer shell of the refrigerator cabinet.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of another portion of the outer shell of the refrigerator cabinet.

Fig. 5 is' an enlarged elevational view of the longitudinal clamp member of Figs; 3 and 4.

Referring to the drawings; there is shown a refrigerator cabinet I0 such as a home freezer or freezer chest. This cabinet broadly includes a base Il, an outer shell i2- secured to the base, an inner liner I3 spaced within the outer shell, insulating material outer shell I2 and the inner liner I3,- a door I5 hingedly mounted to the outer shell, and a condensing unit housing I6 which is detachably mounted on base Il. An evaporator coil l1 is secured to the outer wall surfaces of inner liner I3, and a condenser coil I8 is secured to the inner A'wall surfaces of the outer shell I 2. A mo- ;J n U v but is notv shown sinceit is not a part of the present inventioni A grill I9 is provided in the front wall of housing I6 through which cooling air will be drawn and circulated over the motorcompressor unit. Y Y

The condenser coil Ithas one endconnected to the outlet side of the compressor and the other end connected to the evaporator coil.- The other end of the evaporator coil is connected to the inlet side of the compressor; Very brieily the refrigeration system operates as follows: refrigera-ntgases are compressed by the compressor and discharged under pressure to the condensercoil I8 where heat is dissipated kfrom the gases by thewalls of the outer shell I 2 causing the gases to be condensed into a liquid; the liquid, refrigerant then ows through evaporator coil I'I where it absorbs heat from the walls of the inner liner I3 and is converted into gases which then flow back to the compressor to repeat the cycle.-l

Outer shell I2 is constructed from sheet metal to have front wall left end wall 2l, back wall 22 and right end wall 23; The bottoni edges of the walls are bentinwardly toward each other to form al nange 24 to which a sheet metal bottom 25 is secured. The upper edges of the walls are 55 bent downwardly and outwardly toward ah I4 disposed between the A other to form a ange 26 around the periphery of the door opening.

The inner liner I3 is formed from sheet metal to have four vertical walls parallel to the outer shell walls and a bottom parallel to bottom 25. The walls of the inner liner I3 define a food storage compartment 27. The evaporator coil II is wrapped around the liner and is secured against the walls and bottom by a number of coil clamps 28 which are spot welded to the walls and bottom. The upper edge portions of the inner liner walls are bent downwardly and outwardly to form a flange 2t* around the periphery of the door opening. A breaker strip member Se bridges across the top edges of inner liner I3 and outer liner I2 and is secured to flanges 2t and 2S in any suitable manner. y

The condenser coil I8 comprises a tube bent shell, means for attaching said coil to an exinto top turn 3|, intermediate turn 32 and bottom turn 33. The top turn 3I is positioned adjacent iiange 2G and is secured against the walls of the outer shell i2 by metal clips Elli which are spot welded to flange 2t at spaced intervals. Bottom turn 33 is positioned adjacent iiange 2li and is secured against the walls of the outer shell I2 by bent-in tabs 35 which are formed along the edge of bottom 25.

The intermediate turn 32 is secured to the back wall 22 and right end wall 23. by metal coil clamps 3S which are spot welded to the walls. However, this type of coil clamp is not desirable on front wall 28 and left end wall 2I since both of these walls are exposed to view and spot welding would mar the wall surface.

The intermediate turn 32 is secured to end wall 2I by a coil retainer 3? and a clamp inember 4I as shown in Fig. 3. The coil retainer is formed as a U-shaped channel of the proper dimension to t over the tube 32 with legs 39 and lll slightly shorter than the outer diameter of the tube. One end of the coil retainer is curved to fit around the corner between left end wall 2I and back wall 22 and is supported by bracket 3B which is spot welded to the back wall 22.

A clamp member 4I is provided fo h l -f-/'iilretanior in pia-re. As shown in Fig this clamp member is formed from metal into a bowed member having ends d2 and 43 bent at substantially right angles thereto and bent in edge portions or flanges fifi and i5 for added strength. In assembling the clamp member dI it is first positioned substantially perpendicular to coil retainer 3'! with end #33 positioned under bracket it which is secured to bottom 25 by spot welding. End e2 is then forced inwardly toward wall ZI and spot welded to flange 2S. In thisassembled position the clamp member lil is deected from its bowed free shape to be substantially parallel to the end wall 2i so that it bears against retainer 3? with sufficient force to hold the intermediate turn 32 tightly against the left end wall for its entire length. As shown in Fig. i the intermediate turn 32 is secured against the front wall til in a similar manner. A U-shaped coil retainer channel 41 having legs 49 and 5B slightly shorter than the outer diameter of the tube is positioned over the turn 32 with one end supported by bracket i8 which is secured to end wall 23. The retainer l'I is positioned over the tube 32 and clamped in place by two clamp members 1I in the same manner as coil retainer as explained above, so that the intermediate turn 32 is secured tightly against the front wall for its entire length.

posed wall of said outer shell, said means comprising a bracket and a retainer member and a clamp member, said bracket secured to an unexposed wall of said outer shell, said retainer member having a groove which fits over a portion of said coil, an end of said retainer member supported by said bracket, said clamp member having a central portion and two end portions, said central portion positioned against said retainer member with said end portions deflected toward said wall and secured to adjacent portions of said cabinet, said coil being secured between the retainer member and the exposed wall.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet, an outer shell having a coil disposed adjacent the inner wall surfaces thereof, a retainer member having spaced apart legs connected by a web portion, said retainer being positioned with said legs fitting over a portion of said coil, said legs being slightly shorter than the outer diameter of said coil, and means for clamping said coil against said wall, said means comprising a clamp member having a central portion and end portions, said clamp member being disposed with said central portion abutting said web portion and said end portions deflected toward said wall and secured to portions of said cabinet adjacent to said wall.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet, an outer shell having a coil disposed adjacent the inner wall surfaces thereof, a retainer member having spaced apart legs connected by a web portion, said retainer member being positi d w s L g .er a portion ci said coil, `said legs being shorter than the outer diameter of said coil, and means for clamping said coil against said wall, said means comprising a longitudinal clamp member having end portions and a central portion which is provided with bent out edge portions, said clamp member being positioned transversely to said retainer member with said central portion abutting said web portion and said edge portions extending away from said web portion, said end portions being deflected toward said wall and secured to portions of said cabinet adjacent to said wall.

4. In a refrigerator cabinet, an outer shell having walls provided with top and bottom anges, a coil disposed adjacent the inner surfaces of said Walls, and means for securing said coil to an exposed wall of said outer shell, said means comprising a bracket and a retainer and a clamp, said bracket being secured to an uneXposed Wall of said outer shell, said retainer being provided with spaced apart legs connected by a web portion and being positioned with said legs tting over a portion of said coil with one end thereof supported by said bracket, said clamp being disposed with a central portion thereof abutting said web portion and end portions thereof being deected toward said wall and secured to said flanges.

5. In a refrigerator cabinet, an outer shell having walls provided with top and bottom flanges, a coil disposed adjacent the inner surfaces of said Walls, and means for securing said coil to an exposed wall of said outer shell, said means comprising a bracket and a retainer and a clamp, said bracket being secured to an unexposed Wall of said outer shell, said retainer being provided with spaced apart legs connected by a web portion and being positioned with said legs tting over a portion of said coil with one end thereof supported by said bracket, said clamp having end portions and a longitudinal central portion which is provided with bent out edge portions, said clamp being positioned transversely to said retainer with said central portion abutting said web portion and said end portions being deected toward said Wall and secured to said flanges.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet having a condenser coil disposed adjacent the inner surface of an 20 outer Wall of said cabinet, means for mounting a straight section of said condenser coil in thermal contact with said inner surface of said outer Wall exclusive of any disturbance of said outer Wall, said means comprising a pair of flanges disposed in a spaced apart relation along the inner surface of said outer wall parallel to said section and substantially at the edges of said wall, said anges formed by folded portions of said outer Wall, a rigid retaining member cornprising a longitudinal member having a pair of longitudinal ribs depending therefrom to form a groove, said ribs having a lesser depth than the diameter of said condenser coil, said retaining member positioned adjacent said straight section of said condenser coil with said section Within said groove, resilient clamping members of a length substantially equal to the distance between said flanges, said resilient clamping members disposed transversely against said 1ongitudinal member of said retaining member, and means for securing the ends of said clamping members to said flanges to mount said section in thermal contact with the inner surface of said outer wall.

7. In a cabinet as claimed in claim 6, each of said resilient clamping members comprising a longitudinal member having a pair of longitudinal ribs depending therefrom, and each of said clamping members formed to deformably bow convexly toward the side from which said longitudinal ribs depend.

ROBERT L. EICHHORN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,509,614 Phillip May 30, 1950 

